She Thaws My Frozen Heart

If it weren't for the fact that my entire body felt cold on the inside, I probably would have marvelled at the speed with which we moved toward Arendelle. I think I must have passed out and woken up a time or two on the trip, because one minute it was still the dark of the night, then I blinked and it was the day. My entire body was going numb with cold, and my grip on Maximus would have waned if I hadn't been so conscious of keeping it.

"Come on, buddy, faster!" I vaguely heard Kristoff urge Sven.

What breaths I was taking were coming out shaky. I really am gonna die, I thought in despair. I don't want to die like this! I want to spend some more time with Mum and Dad … I want to apologise to Eugene and Rapunzel for taking Maximus without telling them … I want to see Elsa again …

Even though she was the one that did this to Anna and I, I couldn't bring myself to feel any kind of negativity toward her. I knew it was an accidents, so there was no need to be angry at or scared of her. If anything, I wanted to see her at least one more time in order to tell her that I didn't blame her, that I forgave her for this. Hell, there was nothing to forgive, in my eyes.

Any attempts to stay positive had long since ceased. I simply didn't have the willpower any more; I hadn't since I had gotten too cold to move properly. Can you blame me? I looked over all the potential outcomes in my mind, and only one thing remained consistent with each: the inevitability of my death.

But if Anna could get to Prince Hans, she would have a chance. I took comfort in the thought that it might not be both of us that dies.

"I'll meet you guys at the castle!" said Olaf, who had at some point or another fallen off of Sven. I wasn't paying much attention.

"Stay out of sight, Olaf!" Kristoff called to him.

Yeah, it'd be best if we didn't go giving any citizens heart attacks.

It took only a few minutes from then on for us to reach the castle. It was a bumpy ride for me, but I managed to keep my hold on Maximus well enough. When we reached the gates, Kristoff got off Sven, carrying Anna bridal style. Maximus continued to carry me on his back. He sent worried glances at me every now and then, but I did my best to smile reassuringly. I don't know how effective it was, but he faced forward again.

"A-Are you gonna be okay?" Anna asked Kristoff, her voice shaky.

Kristoff took a few moments to respond. "Don't worry about me," he said.

"J-Just don't worry at all, A-Anna," I said in a stutter. I did my best to smile. "Y-You should be fine."

"W-What about you?" she asked me, looking worried.

I shrugged, still trying to keep a smile on my face. "I'll f-figure something out."

The odds of that actually happening were basically zero … and I think they both knew it, too.

The gates of the castle opened up and out came three servants … two of which I was very familiar with. The second Mum and Dad saw me, I saw very real horror in their eyes for the first – and hopefully only – time in my entire life. Mum was wearing a long, dark grey skirt, a red shirt, and a dark grey coat. Her greying hair was visible through the front of the hood.

I tried to smile again, but it was probably the most fake one yet.

"Get them warm," said Kristoff, handing Anna off to my mother and the other of the servants who came out. "And find Prince Hans immediately."

"We will, thank you," said Dad in a rush. He was taking increasingly worried glances at me.

"Make sure she's safe!" Kristoff said just as the gates closed on him.

I was still atop Maximus on the way in. Whereas normally horses would be confined to the stables until they were needed, the fact that this one was carrying a clearly ailed me on his back probably called for an exception. The looks that the people milling about the castle gave Anna and I on the way in were shocked and horrified. I felt like a living icicle – I could only imagine how I looked.

A hand gripped Maximus' reins. It was Dad. He looked grave. "Come on, son," he said. "Let's get you to your room so you can get warmed up. Then we can figure out what to do. Your mother is taking Princess Anna to Prince Hans. She'll be joining us shortly."

It's good that they're getting Anna to Prince Hans, at least, I thought. Dad led Maximus through the castle and to the servants' quarters, then stopped him just outside my room. Home, sweet home. Dad helped me climb down from the horse, whom I patted as I left. I saw Maximus' concerned eyes one last time before Dad shut the door of my room and laid me down on the bed.

"Which was it?" asked Dad. He sounded sad. My cold heart broke seeing him like this. "Stupid or crazy?"

"A l-little bit of both, h-honestly," I said. Dad said nothing. "… Y-You know I had to do it, right? I … I couldn't j-just leave them, Dad. A-Anna and Elsa are my f-friends."

"I know," he said, nodding solemnly. "That's why I didn't stop you from going. I'm sad and I'm scared, but I'm in no way disappointed in you, Simon. Hell, I can't even bring myself to be angry."

I gave the first genuine grin I'd given since the day before. "Language," I said.

Despite the sadness in his face, Dad started laughing, and so did I. It didn't hurt to laugh as I had expected it to, but the icy feelings within my body weren't helped in any way.

"… Th-The tro— people who told us what was wrong s-said it would take an act of t-true love to fix this," I told Dad. I wasn't sure why. I think, maybe, some mad part of myself that still hoped for survival thought he might know of some solution. "They s-suggested a true love's kiss m-might do the trick, as difficult t-to believe and sickeningly s-sweet as that is. Anna is covered on that front," (I didn't know at the time that, at that very moment, Anna was being shown just how not covered she was), "b-but I don't really have anyone l-like that."

"What about Queen Elsa?" asked Dad. I looked at him, shocked, and he gave a weak laugh. "What, you think I never noticed? Son, even at the young age you were, we could all see the special bond you two had. You would always seek her out when you were feeling sad or lonely, and you spent a significantly larger amount of time with her than you did with Princess Anna. Even the King and Queen knew."

That shocked me. "A-And they weren't angry or a-anything?" I asked.

"Not in the slightest," said Mum, who had appeared in the door. She looked at me, lying on the bed, with a sad smile. "As a matter of fact, I seem to remember them finding it quite adorable that their daughter was growing so fond of somebody."

Elsa was fond of me? I thought, my eyes widening. A small spark of hope lit up inside me … only to be crushed when another bout of weakness overtook me and my head fell to my pillow.

"Simon!" both of my parents exclaimed, coming over. "Dear Lord …" said Dad, looking at my hair. "Your hair … it's all white …"

So it's nearly over, I thought. I had taken to using the state of my hair as some sort of timer. I had assumed that I would be frozen as soon as it all turned white, but that was apparently not the case. Still, it couldn't be long now.

"What do we do?" asked Mum.

"N-Nothing," I said before Dad could speak. "There's nothing else to do. I-It'll take a miracle at this point, and I'm c-content to wait for one … or d-death. Whichever comes first."

"Don't say that!" Dad snapped at me.

"There must be something …" said Mum.

I was about to reiterate my point, but then I noticed something. At first I thought it was a trick of the light, but then I realised that it was very real. There were small patches of ice coming from the tiny cracks in the walls, and even from between the brickwork in some places. At first I thought it was just the condensation freezing over in the cold … but then it started spreading violently across the walls. I knew that could only mean one thing.

"Elsa …" I said with a gasp. I got a sudden burst of energy and stood up from the bed.

"Simon, no, you should lie down," said Dad, putting a hand on my shoulder and trying to push me back to the bed.

"You've got to let me go!" I practically growled, my eyes narrowed in determination. "C-Can you not see the ice on the walls? Elsa is here."

Without waiting for a response, I shoved past him and toward the door, which I then yanked open. I was stumbling a little as I walked, but that was of little concern to me. I sighed out in relief when I saw that Maximus was still outside my door, apparently having been pacing up and down the corridor. His eyes went wide when they saw me, as did the eyes of the two familiar faces that were standing with him.

"Simon!" Eugene said, smiling widely. "Where'd you vanish off to with Max, buddy? We've been worried."

"Are you okay?" asked Rapunzel.

"No time," I said, breathing heavily. I looked at Maximus, nodded my head toward the spreading ice, which was now starting to expand into large icicles. Maximus nodded at me, and with one swift movement, he had gotten me onto his back.

"Wait, what's going on?" asked Rapunzel.

"To p-put it in simple terms," I said, now wanting to move quickly. "I've g-gotta go see about a girl."

I then flicked Maximus' reins, and he was off in the fastest run I'd seen him pull yet.

At first it seemed to be going well. Maximus was running through the hallways, past all the people who were bustling about the castle trying to keep warm. But then things got complicated. The icicles started getting bigger, and they blocked off the paths we were taking more and more. It was starting to look like the idea of getting out was becoming something of an impossibility.

"Come on, Maximus," I urged him. "Come on … We just need to find her, that's all. We need to find Elsa." I didn't know it, but that small spark of hope that had been so quickly extinguished was back with a vengeance. But all my mind was focusing on was finding and helping Elsa.

I suddenly found that I couldn't move or feel my hands. I looked at them, and they were now frozen in the position of grabbing Maximus' reins. They were literally ice.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit …" I muttered to myself. "Come on, Maximus! Find us a way out!"

He looked back at me, and the look he gave me I could read perfectly: "Brace yourself."

I held my head down and moved my body so that I was lying as flat as I could get on Maximus' back. I didn't see him jump out of the window, but the smash and the shards of glass that were suddenly in my hair told me all I needed to know about that.

Getting out of the castle had taken too long, though. As I squinted my eyes due to the snow blowing into my face, I found that my vision was growing fuzzy. Things started to darken in front of my eyes, and my sight was going … going …

… gone.

Elsa is on her knees, her heart full of nothing but despair and anguish. Prince Hans, the one her sister had gotten engaged to after knowing him for only a day, was coming up slowly behind her with a sword. He has just told her that her sister, Anna, and her childhood friend, Simon, have returned from the mountains weak and cold. Back in her castle, when they had been trying to talk her into coming back with them, she had frozen their hearts.

And now Hans has told her that they're dead.

This causes her more distress than she has ever felt before in her life. More so, even, than when she accidentally struck Anna's head with her powers during their childhood – the incident that caused her to lock herself away all these years. The two people she loves most in the world are dead … and it's all her fault.

Anna is – was – her sister, and Elsa has loved her dearly all throughout her life, as most love their siblings. Simon, though … the love she feels for him is something else entirely.

The realisation of this came about first at the party after her coronation. Simon had approached her and Anna with chocolate after they'd both sniffed it out. Her first thought upon looking at him had been of how handsome he has grown after all these years. Her heart had picked up its pace in her chest, and she had a slightly larger struggle than usual to keep her emotions under control. "Conceal it, don't feel it," as her father had taught her. After her outburst at Anna, she felt the most regret after seeing that she had very nearly stabbed Simon through the throat with her ice.

Back then she didn't know what these feelings for him were. It wasn't until he said it himself that she understood.

For God's sake, Elsa, I love you! he had shouted when she cast him, Anna, Olaf, and the other man from her ice castle in the North Mountain. It shocked her, but it also made her realise something.

She loves him, too. She has ever since they were children.

And now he was dead. Him and Anna … and it's all Elsa's fault.

Her anguish alone has made the roaring snow stop, though the cold is still very much present.

"No!" cries a voice behind her, the voice of Anna, and there is the sound of something freezing and metal breaking.

Elsa turns around slowly and sees a perfect ice sculpture of her sister standing there with an arm raised in the air. Except Elsa knows it's not a sculpture. "Anna!" she exclaims, standing up and running to the front of her frozen sister. "Anna …" she says again. "No, no …" she places her hands on the sides of Anna's face, "please, no." Seeing no change, Elsa throws herself into hugging Anna, crying cascades of tears as she does so.

"Anna …" says Olaf, who has just arrived. The other man who Elsa doesn't know is there, too, and he looks equally devastated. There was a reindeer there, too. Prince Hans is on the floor, seemingly unconscious. But Elsa is too preoccupied with crying over her loss to really acknowledge them.

That's when something miraculous happens.

The ice starts to go away.

It starts at Anna's chest, then spreads across her whole body. The ice vanishes from her form, revealing her as she should be. Olaf gasps in wonder at the spectacle. The reindeer nudged the man, who looked up, his face rising from the down expression it was just in.

Elsa looks up when she feels movement and sees that Anna is no longer frozen. "Anna!" she says in joy. She pulls her into a tight hug.

"Elsa," says Anna.

"You sacrificed yourself for me?" asked Elsa.

"Of course," says Anna. "I love you."

Olaf gasps in joy. "An act of true love will thaw a frozen heart," he says.

"Love will thaw …?" says Elsa. She realises something and a smile overtakes her face. She is about to put this new knowledge to good use, when the sound of approaching hooves distracts her.

It's a white horse carrying something rapidly on its back.

"Maximus!" says Anna, smiling. "What've you got there, boy …?" Her eyes widen as she sees it.

All of their eyes widen when they see what Maximus is carrying.

It's Simon … but he's frozen as Anna was moments before. Maximus slows to a stop right beside them. The man, without even needing to be asked, walks over and pulls him from Maximus' back in order to give him a rest. Simon is frozen in the position of sitting on Maximus' back, holding the reins in his hands. It takes some effort to pull the reins from his frozen grip, but it's managed.

"Simon …" Elsa says, leaning down and stroking a hand across his icy face.

"… Do you think there's still time?" Kristoff asks.

"There's got to be," says Anna. She looks at Elsa, and she sees it now. She sees what everyone else sees whenever they say Simon is in love with Elsa. It wasn't until he admitted it that Anna truly started believing it, but now she sees it clearly. She also sees that Elsa looks at him in much the same way as he looks at her. "An act of true love, Elsa … Do you think you've got one in you?"

Elsa says nothing. She simply stares at Simon's frozen face, a tingle of hope making itself known inside her. Knowing how such stories involving love usually end, and knowing that she will be very happy to do so, she leans down to administer the classic act of true love.

Elsa doesn't really feel the cold of Simon's lips as she presses hers against them. But she does feel it when the ice begins to vanish.

The feeling in my body coming back to me was only the first of the surprises I got in that moment. The other was the feeling of something cold against my lips as my senses returned to me. I opened my eyes and saw that Elsa was right in front of me … and she was kissing me.

My eyes went wide and my heart bloomed with joy and relief. I'm alive! I cheered in my mind. I'm alive and ELSA IS KISSING ME!

Choosing not to waste any time, I wrapped my unfrozen arms around Elsa and kissed her back. Her eyes snapped open and we made eye contact. My joy was being reflected back at me from her eyes. She hummed into the kiss and closed her eyes, and I did the same. I had truly never been happier in my life.

"Okay, you two, you can lock lips again later," said Anna. I felt relief at hearing her voice again. "We've got a winter to end."

Elsa separated from me, and I reluctantly unwrapped my arms from around her so that she could get up. She held a hand out to me, which I took, and then helped me to my feet. She looked around, smiling. "Love," she said, waving an arm through the air.

For a moment I wasn't sure what was happening, but then snow seemed to be going … upwards? I looked at the floor and gasped in awe, as did Anna, as the ice started floating up into the air as snowflakes. Sven tried to catch some on his tongue, but they floated away from him. Maximus eyed them suspiciously and tried to stay away, which proved to be impossible. It actually made me laugh a little. As the fjord started to melt away, I saw that, by pure lucky coincidence, we were standing on one of the ships, so we didn't get needlessly wet when the water was unfrozen.

Very soon all of Arendelle was ice- and snow-free. The natural beauty and heat of the summertime was back.

"You're amazing, you know that, Elsa?" I asked, smiling at her. She smiled widely back at me.

"I knew you could do it," Anna said, putting a hand on her sister's shoulder.

"Hands down, this is the best day of my life," said Olaf happily. Then I noticed that he was getting significantly shorter and more droopy-looking. His carrot nose fell off. "And quite possibly the last."

"Oh, Olaf," Elsa said, laughing a little. "Hang on, little guy." She waved her hand at him.

A cloud appeared above Olaf's head, and it rained snow down upon him. His body was reformed in a display of blue sparkles. "My own personal flurry!" he said, doing a little dance.

Everyone was smiling. All seemed right with the world.

Some groaning could be heard. A few feet away, Prince Hans was climbing to his feet. Kristoff made to storm over to him, but Anna put a hand to his chest and stopped him. She stood up straight, wore a neutral expression, and made her way over to him.

"Anna?" asked Prince Hans, obviously confused. "But … she froze your heart …"

"The only frozen heart around here is yours," she said. She turned around like she was just going to walk away, but then quickly turned toward him and punched him right in the face. He stumbled off the ship and into the water of the fjord. (Which can't have been warm in any sense of the word, for it had only just been unfrozen.)

"… Okay, somebody's going to need to explain what the hell happened between getting back to Arendelle and this exact moment," I said. "Because I am awfully confused."

Elsa and Anna started to hug it out. Kristoff put an arm around Sven's neck. I took my bag (which was surprisingly undamaged by all this excitement) and threw the final remaining apple at him. He ate it as enthusiastically as he'd eaten the others, and even moved to nuzzle my head. I patted his muzzle affectionately. When I turned back toward the hugging sisters, I saw that Kristoff had been pulled into the hug.

Ah, what the hell? I thought. I went over and put my arms around them, joining in the group hug. I was happy.

When we separated, Anna went over to Sven with Kristoff and they talked. I looked at Elsa and felt like butterflies were flying around in my stomach … in a good way, though.

"I love you, Elsa," I said. The words came much easier now.

She smiled at me, and when she spoke, my life filled up with happiness. "I love you, too, Simon."

We kissed again, and many times after that.

So, Prince Hans turned out to be quite possibly the biggest prick I'd ever met in my life. As it turned out, he'd planned to marry Anna and kill Elsa as a way of taking the throne of Arendelle. I still wish I had the chance to sock the son of a bitch myself. Instead he was sent back to the Southern Isles in the brig of the ship he came on, and the hope was that he would be thrown in prison over there. If not … well, he'd just better hope he never encounters me, let's put it that way.

The Duke of Weselton (Weaseltown), who had tried to have Elsa killed during this whole mess, was sent back home. Arendelle never did business with Weselton ever again. It was Dad who dropped that particular bomb on the Duke, and from what he's said, it brought him great satisfaction to do so. (He even made good on my dare for a second time!)

Anna gave Kristoff that new sled she owed him. I've seen it, and it's really quite impressive. Elsa gave Kristoff a job that Kristoff and I both agree never existed before now, but that doesn't really matter, does it? Those two started courting, and they really are a very cute couple.

Olaf is … Olaf. That about sums it all up, really. He got his dream of seeing summer, and he seems to have enjoyed himself.

Eugene, Rapunzel, Pascal (who they had kept warm by a fire, thank God), and, last but not least, Maximus left for Corona shortly after the fjord was unfrozen. There were no hard feelings held by Eugene and Rapunzel for taking Maximus … on the condition that they receive an invite to my and Elsa's eventual wedding. I told them that wouldn't be a problem, though I stuttered the whole time saying it. I was sad to see Maximus go; I had come to be quite attached to that horse.

Elsa and I started a relationship. A servant courting the Queen caused quite an uproar amongst the more snobby citizens, but for some reason they never once confronted either of us. (I'm sure it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that Elsa has ice powers.) We're happy together, and it's nice when we're able to double date with Anna and Kristoff. I'm in love, I'm happy, and that's really the end of my story.

For now, anyway. Who's to say this would be the only extraordinary experience of my life?

Maybe I'll tell you about the others sometime. Thank you for listening to my story.

Anna, Kristoff, Sven, Olaf, Elsa, and I will see you again soon.

And that's a wrap for not only chapter 6, but the story itself, Constant Readers! There's a FINISHED story on my profile!

Yes, Hans knew about Simon having his heart frozen. How? Well, obviously someone was going to tell him that somebody else was in a similar condition. Maybe it was Anna, maybe it was one of the servants, but somebody was going to say something.

"True love's kiss." Very cliché, I know, but this is DISNEY we're talking about here. Yes, they went out of their way to break the formula with Frozen, but that doesn't mean some of the classics can't apply, does it? Plus, this story was written in the space of a week! Give me some credit.

I do plan on writing a one-shot based on Frozen Fever, but that probably won't be around for awhile yet. I've got other things to do. And you guys can count on a Frozen 2 story when that comes out!

Thank you for reading, Constant Readers, and be sure to leave a review giving me your thoughts. I plan on doing another OC/Elsa story in future, this time getting more courageous with the potential changes that could be made, and I hope you'll tune in for that, too.

Goodbye, Constant Readers!